ABC (April 18, 9 p.m. ET)
C
Coach's Craig T. Nelson has producing and cowriting credits for this TV movie, which bears a powerful resemblance to Tender Mercies, the 1983 Robert Duvall classic about a boozy, has-been country singer redeemed by the love of a decent woman and her decent son. Nelson, portraying a boozy, has-been motorcycle racer redeemed by the love of a decent woman (Helen Shaver) and her decent son (Bradley Pierce), is sturdy, low-keyed—and monotonous. (Underplaying, something that Duvall does masterfully, is tricky.) The movie, which features altogether too much dusty-yellow cinematography, just crawls by.
(David Hiltbrand is on vacation.)
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